System for handling flimsy carbon sheets



y 7, 1963 w. B. AUSTIN 3,088,730

SYSTEM FOR HANDLING FLIMSY CARBON SHEETS Filed Feb. 21, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l INV EN TOR.

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SYSTEM FOR HANDLING FLIMSY CARBON SHEETS Filed Feb. 21, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV EN TOR.

W/L A 09/7 5 05770 3,088,730 Patented May 7, 1963 ice 3,083,730 SYSTEM FOR HANDLING FLIMSY CARBON SHEETS William B. Austin, Ridgewood, NJ. (176 Broadway, New York, N.Y.) Filed Feb. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 135,087 8 Claims. (Cl. 27058) The present invention relates to a system for handling flimsy carbon sheets and it particularly relates to a system for collating flimsy sheets of carbon with relatively stiifer carrier sheets for use in various stenographic purposes.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a relatively simple, reliable system for handling flimsy carbon sheets so that the sheets may be reenforced and can most conveniently be collated or assembled with other paper sheets for making carbon copies with a minimum of loss and wastage due to wrinkling and deformation of the carbon sheets and assurance that the carbon sheets will be in proper position.

Another object is to provide a method of assembling Webs of flimsy carbon paper either in the form of in dividual sheets or from a roller thereof so that said sheets may be picked up and assembled with sheets of relatively stiffer paper so as to form desirable assemblies for use in various reproducing machines or for various reproducing and copying purposes.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by Way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

-In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory according to one embodiment of the present invention to provide an oscillating suction cup device which will permit picking up of sheets of carbon and depositing them in a suitable position where they are to be collated or assembled with stiffer sheets.

The suction may be on during the carrying procedure and cut off during the return procedure upon the release of the carbon sheets into a suitable pile, carrier or holder.

Desirably the suction is controlled by means of a suction cam which may be operated in combination with an air reversing valve and air blower or air pump, alternate 1y to apply and relieve the suction and also to apply a mild blast of air to enable the sheets to be individually picked'up and released.

The carbon may be supplied from a continuous web and then assembled with suitable stiff body forming carrier sheets.

Essentially, in assembling of sheets of carbon paper, and even other flimsy material, between sheets of heavier material, a web of flimsy carbon paper from a roll of the same is advanced a predetermined distance, for example the length of the sheet desired.

When the leading edge of the carbon sheet reaches a predetermined line or position back of the leading edge of the top sheet of a pile of sheets or printed forms, the pick-up or vacuum cups of soft rubber material are pressed down upon the area of the printed form near the leading edge, while one or more of the vacuum cups are pressed down on the flimsy carbon sheet on the area adjacent the leading edge thereof.

With the suction cups in pressed down position, a knife is actuated to cut off *a sheet from the web of the flimsy carbon strip.

Concurrently with this operation a valve is operated to effect a suction on the suction cups and to cause air to blow lightly against the edges of the sheets at and near the top of the pile.

Then as the vacuum cups are raised to lift the top sheet and the flimsy carbon sheet off the pile, the blowing against the edges of the sheets at the top of the pile will prevent pick-up of the sheet next below the top sheet on the pile.

The cup carrier is then advanced to and over a carrier or deposit position or a tray, where the carrier sheet and the flimsy carbon sheet may be released upon turning oil the suction.

This release may be enhanced by causing the air to blow from the cups to give a positive release of the assembled sheets.

After the sheets have been dropped or stacked at the new position, the carrier suction cups, with the suction cut off, may then be returned as the Web of flimsy carbon is being advanced for application to and assembly with the next stiff or carrier sheet.

Desi t-ably, suitable release or safety devices are provided if the web breaks or runs out and if the pile of sheets run out or becomes too low.

Suitable safety devices may also be provided if for any reason the suction cups fail to pick up a sheet or if two sheets are picked up simultaneously from the carrier pile instead of one at a time.

Desirably, the feeding roll and knife, together with the spring drum for carrying the feed roll of flimsy carbon, are all mounted in a frame or carriage that can be set at a predetermined desired distance from the assembly point of the flimsy carbon and the carrier sheets.

The carbon sheet may be made of various lengths and it may 'be the same length or shorter or longer than the length of the sheets in the carrier pile.

For example, Where some information is desired on the main sheets which is not desired on the carbon sheets, the carbon sheets may be shorter than the main sheets.

Although the present invention is particularly applicable to the assembly of flimsy carbon sheets with carrier sheets in various types of collating or reproduction, it may be also used in assembling thin sheets of plywood or veneer together with intermediate impregnated sheets of tissue paper or absorbent paper which have been run through a bath of a penol-formaldehyde resin and dried.

In such an assembly, the sheets of plywood and the sheets of resin impregnated tissue paper may vary from to of an inch and the laminations may be piled up to form a layer from A to one inch in thickness, up to two to three inches in thickness.

The pile thus formed may be pressed between heated platens, or between platens with high frequency induction heating of the order of 3,000,000 cycles or three megacycles, to fuse the wood and the Bakelite together. Various articles are processed from such raw material, such as toilet seats, bowling balls and the like.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view showing the complete system according to the present invention, with some of the connecting conduit system being indicated by dotted lines to simplify the showing.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of an alternative arrangement similar to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top elevational view showing the pulley arrangement for controlling the feed of the carbon sheet from a carbon sheet roll.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a holding ball and ratchet at one of the holding shafts.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a supply roll A of the flimsy carbon sheet which will permit the leading edge of the carbon sheet to reach a position indicated by the dotted line B where the suction cups C and D may be applied to the top sheet E of the pile F of the printed forms.

The tray on which the assembled flimsy carbon sheets and carrier sheets are piled is indicated at G.

The cups are carried by the :arm H on the rock shaft J which is oscillate-d by the crank bar K through the are indicated at L.

The crank shaft M will operate the crank N which oscillates the driving bar K and also drives the suction cam P.

The suction cam P has a follower roller Q which actuates the reversing valve indicated diagrammatically at R by the crossing dotted lines.

The air and vacuum are controlled by the air pump or blower S, which is driven by the motor T.

The motor T has a gear reduction V to turn the crank shaft M.

The feed arrangement for the carbon has an oscillating lever W with a slotted arrangement X controlling the length of the carbon sheet to be cut from the web.

The feeding arrangement is associated with a spiral spring controlled belt member Y and with a ratchet arrangement Z shown in FIG. 4.

Referring again specifically to FIG. 1, the two suction cups C and D are carried by the plate 20 extending outwardly from the top of the arm H.

The suction cups have suction connections 22 and 23 carried by the collars 24 and 25.

The tubular members 22 and 23 are connected by the inverted U-shaped flexible hoses to the main suction connection 28.

The main suction connection 28 is connected to the tube 29 at the shaft junction 30.

The tube 29 is connected as shown by the dotted lines 31 to the reversing valve R.

The reversing valve R is provided with an airout relief valve 32 and an air-in valve for blowing purposes 33.

The connection from the reversing valve R is made through the in-line 34 to the inlet 35 of the intake section 36 of the centrifugal pump or blower S.

The outlet lines 37 and 38 are connected to the outlet section 39 of the combination pump and blower S.

The line 37 leads through the reversing valve, as indicated at 40, to the pipe member 41 which has a top slotted outlet at 42 to blow air to the right to cause release of the upper sheets in the stack F.

The other air outlet connection 38 passes through the reversing valve R to the line 31, which alternately will blow air through instead of sucking air into the cups C and D to cause release of the sheets over the tray G.

The bar 20 with the suction heads C and D is oscillated by means of the lever or link 43 having the pivotal connection at 44- to the vertical bar member 45, which is con nected at the pivot 46 to the lower hub member 47.

This hub member 47 will be mounted upon a rock shaft which will oscillate back and forth as indicated by the arrows 48.

The arrows 48 are associated with the oscillating bar .49 on the pivot 50, which at its end 51 is connected to the retraction spring 52 by the eye 53.

This spring 52 will extend up to the shaft pivot 54.

The member 49 will be oscillated as indicated at 55 by means of the link 75 having the end pivot connections 76 and 77.

The horizontal bar 78 extends between the pivots 54 and 77 and has a follower roller 79 which rides on the suction cam P.

The suction cam P is driven from the shaft M and through the gear 80 from the gear 81 in the reduction gearing on the side of the motor T.

The cam P will have the elevated lobe portion 82, which will actuate the follower roller 79 to operate the link 75, the bar 49 and the rod 45 to lower the cups C and D.

When the roller is off the lobe 82, the cups C and D will be elevated and they will retain said elevated position from the lobe 82 to the beginning of the incline 8 3, with the suction being applied during the rotational movement indicated by the arrow 84.

When the follower roller Q of the reversing valve R passes over the nose 83 on to the down-slope 84 and the smaller diameter portion 85, the suction will be changed to a positive pressure, which then will pass through the connection 29' to the cups C and D and to the slotted member 42 to release the top sheet E on the pile F on to which the carbon sheet has been placed.

This will continue during the other 180, as indicated by the arrow 86 in FIG. 1, until the lobe 82 contacts the follower roller 79.

It will be noted as indicated by the dot and dash lines 87 and 88 that the shaft 30' will move from its right position to the left position indicated at 89, where it will be directly over the lower portion 90' of the carrier tray G, having the retaining wall 91.

Generally the suction is an outer movement in the direction 92 and will be half open movement in the direction 93, with air being applied for blowing off the sheets in position 94.

The tubular structure 30 desirably spans several stations and it is supported by the arms H at each end thereof and is capped and sealed to assure that alternate suction and blowing will be applied at the soft pick-up cups C and D.

The carbon sheet will be supplied from the supply A with the swinging arm W having an adjustable slotted connection X including the vertical slot and the horizontal slot 101.

The crossing slots 100 and 101 respectively, the vertical oscillating lever W and the horizontal member 102 will have an adjustable T-bolt connection at 103 to determine the length of the sheet to be cut ofi? of the web.

The lower end of the bar W has a fixed pivot at 104.

There will be a rewind spring instead of the circular flange 105 and the spool A will be rotatably 180 in one direction, as indicated by the arrow 106 and the rewind spring will rotate the spool A in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrow 107.

The strap 109 is moved in the direction 110 by the tubular member and is reversely moved in the direction 111 by the spring, and it will extend to the tube 30 and engage it by means of the lip 112.

The pulleys 113 and 114, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, will rotate in both directions, as indicated by the double headed arrow 114, but the shaft 115 will operate only in one direction.

The pulley 113 carries the strap 116, which terminates in the loop 117 around the eye 118 on the upper end of the vertical member W.

There also will be a strap extension 119 to the pulley member 120. (See also FIGS. 1 and 3).

The strap extension 119 is interiorly provided with the light coiled leaf spring 121.

This light coiled leaf spring is mounted at 122 adjacent the shaft 123 and it is mounted at its outer portion on the pin 124. (See FIG. 1).

The holding ball and ratchet as shown in FIG. 4 has a toothed annular member 125 against which acts the ball member 126 carried by the pivot 127 on the central triangular member 128.

This member is held by the head 129 and the pin 130 on the central shaft. The extension 131 is carried by the spring 132, which extends to the eye 133.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, the carbon strip will be fed from the spool A to the predetermined position indicated by the vertical line B over the stack of printed sheets or heavy sheets F.

It will then be cut off by a knife not shown and the suction cups will be applied to carry both the flimsy sheet and the uppermost heavy sheet E from the solid line position shown in FIG. 1 to the dot and dash line position shown in FIG. 1.

In the solid line position of FIG. 1 the suction will be applied at the lobe 82 and it will be released at the dot and dash line position at the nose 83 and the roller Q.

The movement of the suction cups C and D to the left is repeated by the movement from the lobe 82 to the nose 83, while the movement of the lower portion 85 of the cam P will repeat the movement from the left to the right.

In the alternative arrangement shown in FIG. 2, the carbon paper is supplied from the roll 150 on the shaft or tube 151 and it passes as indicated by the dotted lines 152 and 153 and 154 over the rollers 155, 156 and 157. From the roller 157 it will pass as indicated at 158 around the main supply roller 159 on to the shelf 160, where it is fed over the top sheet 161 of the pile 162 on the table 163.

The table 163 has the front wall 164 and the side flanges 165, with the elevated side guide strip 166.

The front wall 164 will carry the tube 165, the upper end of which is slotted to play off the top sheet 161.

The carbon sheet will be fed over the top sheet 161 and the suction cups 166 and 167 carried by the bar 168 will then be lowered by means of the shaft 169 against the carbon sheet and the top heavy sheet 161.

The carbon sheet is indicated by the double dotted line 170 and the upper and lower cutting knives are indicated at 171 and 172, and they will be actuated as indicated by the arrow to cut off the sheet of flimsy carbon at the proper length when it is over the top sheet 161.

The vertical line 173 will indicate the position of the vertical edge of the carbon when it is in cut off position.

The cups will then lift the assembled sheets and carry them forward as indicated by the dot and dash lines 174 and 175 to the tray portion 176 having the upstanding rear lip 177 and the forward vertical well 178.

The forward or discharge position of the tube 169 is indicated at 169a at the left of FIG. 2.

The suction cups will be oscillated back and forth to give a successive deposit of alternating carbon and heavy sheets on to the tray 176 in the arrangement shown in FIG. 2.

It is apparent that the present applicant has provided a novel method of assembling flimsy carbon sheets with relatively heavy paper, bond or printed sheets for reproduction purposes in which assurance will be had that the carbon sheets will not be ruffled or crumpled.

The carbon sheets at all times will be supported by the heavy sheets and there will be a maximum utilization of the carbon sheets without folding or displacement thereof in connection with the carrier sheets.

As many changes could be made in the above system for handling flimsy carbon sheets, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departure from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 495,571, filed March 21, 1955, now Patent No. 2,972,477, patented February 21, 1961.

I claim:

1. A method of carrying and collating flimsy carbon sheets with relatively stiff supporting sheets comprising providing a stack of relatively stiff supporting sheets, supplying sheets of relatively flimsy carbon paper thereover picking up the flimsy carbon together with the top supporting sheet by a suction cup and then transporting the combined flimsy carbon and supporting sheet to a new stack position and applying a lateral air blow at the pick up position and the new stack position to cause release of the top supporting sheet at the pick up position and the release of the supplying sheets at the stack position.

2. A method of carrying and collating flimsy carbon sheets with relatively stiff supporting sheets comprising providing a stack of relatively stiff supporting sheets, supplying sheets of relatively flimsy carbon paper thereover picking up the flimsy carbon together with the top supporting sheet by a suction cup and then transporting the combined flimsy carbon and supporting sheet to a new stack position and releasing the combined carbon and supporting sheet by reversal of the air pressure and applying a lateral air blow at the pick up position and the new stack position to cause release of the top supporting sheet at the pick up position and the release of the supplying sheets at the stack position.

3. A method of carrying and collating flimsy carbon sheets with relatively stiff supporting sheets comprising providing a stack of relatively stiff supporting sheets, supplying sheets of relatively flimsy carbon paper thereover picking up the flimsy carbon together with the top supporting sheet by a suction cup and then transporting the combined flimsy carbon and supporting sheet to a new stack position and separating the top supporting sheet from the rest of the stack before transportation by a lateral air blow.

4. A method of carrying and collating flimsy carbon sheets with relatively stiff supporting sheets comprising providing a stack of relatively stiff supporting sheets, supplying sheets of relatively flimsy carbon paper thereover picking up the flimsy carbon together with the top supporting sheet by a suction cup and then transporting the combined flimsy carbon and supporting sheet to a new stack position, said flimsy carbon being supplied from 2 continuous roll thereof which is cut off periodically to provide separate carbon sheets of the proper size in respect to the supporting sheets and applying a lateral air blow at the pick up position and the new stack position to cause release of the top supporting sheet at the pick up position and the release of the supplying sheets at the stack position.

5. A method of handling carbon sheets to prevent curling and damage thereof, which comprises feeding a web of carbon paper to a supply of stiff paper sheets, cutting said web of carbon paper into sheets and assembling said carbon paper sheets with said stiff paper sheets so that the stiff paper sheets reinforce the carbon paper sheets, applying negative pressure to the assembly of stiff paper and carbon paper sheets with the stiff paper sheets preventing the rupture of the carbon paper sheet, applying a lateral air blow to the uppermost stiff paper sheet upon application of said negative pressure, transporting the assembly while the same is held by said negative pressure to a predetermined position, turning off the negative pressure and applying lateral air blow to release assembly at said predetermined position.

6. A system for handling flimsy carbon sheets and assembling them with stiffer carrier sheets, and moving them from pick up position to assembly position said carrier sheets being in a vertical stack at pick up position with a leading edge and a rear edge comprising a roll supply of a continuous strip of flimsy carbon paper from a continuous web, a feed for said continuous strip to advance it a predetermined distance across the vertical stack and to the leading edge of the top sheet of the stack of carrier sheets, a plurality of suction cups, means to press down said suction cups upon said carbon strip after it has been advanced, a knife to cut oil? the advanced carbon sheet at the rear edge to cause said carbon sheet to overlay the top carrier sheet, lateral blow means to blow air against the top of the stack alongside of the suction cup means, a laterally swinging vertical carrier carrying at its upper end said blow means and suction cups, a pivot mount for the carrier at its lower end, a blower having a suction inlet and a blow outlet, conduits connecting said inlet and outlet to said blow means and cups, valves in said conduits to control the supply of suction and blow to said blow means and suction cups and valve control means for actuating said valves to apply vacuum to the suction cups when said knife performs said cutting, and to the lateral blow means to blow against the upper edge of the stack to prevent pick up of the next lower carrier sheet, and means to reciprocate carrier to reciprocate said lateral blow means and said suction cups from the pick up position to the assembly position.

7. The system of claim 6, said valve control means comprising a cam.

8. The system of claim 6, said valve control means having means cutting off suction and applying a blow to the suction cups at the assembly position.

Watson Apr. 29, 1952 Austin Feb. 211, 1961 

1. A METHOD OF CARRYING AND COLLATING FLIMSY CARBON SHEETS WITH RELATIVELY STIFF SUPPORTING SHEETS COMPRISING PROVIDING A STACK OF RELATIVELY STIFF SUPPORTING SHEETS, SUPPLYING SHEETS OF RELATIVELY FLIMSY CARBON PAPER THEREOVER PICKING UP THE FLIMSY CARBON TOGETHER WITH THE TOP SUPPORTING SHEET BY A SUCTION CUP AND THEN TRANSPORTING THE COMBINED FLIMSY CARBON AND SUPPORTING SHEET TO A NEW STACK POSITION AND APPLYING A LATERAL AIR BELOW AT THE PICK UP POSITION AND THE NEW STACK POSITION TO CAUSE RELEASE OF THE TOP SUPPORTING SHEET AT THE PICK UP POSITION AND THE RELEASE OF THE SUPPLYING SHEET AT THE STACK POSITION. 